Game Boy
Donkey Kong
| Graphics: Sound: Gameplay: Overall: |
9.00 8.89 9.05 8.94 |
| Votes: | 94 |
| Reviews: | 1 |
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| Reviewer: Berries | Date: May 7, 2024 |
| This was (with the possible exception of Pokemon and Link's Awakening) my favorite game on Game Boy when I was a kid.
For those who hasn't played this, it basically starts off as a simple Game Boy version of the classic Donkey Kong arcade game, except that once you beat that, a short cutscene plays as if to say "oh you thought that was it?" and then the game moves on to one of the most expansive puzzle-adventure experiences you can get on the original Game Boy. Graphics: 7 The graphics are quite basic. I mean it's a monochrome Game Boy game so you can't expect too much, but even so it's all quite simple. The game is pretty good at establishing various visual cues, though. In other words, it does a pretty good job at teaching you what platforms fall, what things that'll kill you look like, etc. etc. The various worlds also look quite distinctive, giving you a nice sense of progression through the game. Sound: 8 The sound effects are also quite basic, but they have a certain... "Uniqueness" to them. The various plings and pops you get when performing special jumps and picking up items can be quite satisfying. I also really like the music in this game. Again, often quite basic, but it always fits the tone, and some of the boss BGMs are really memorable. Gameplay: 10 Gameplay is where this game shines. The controls have a really nice depth to them, with things like the backwards flip which makes you jump much higher than usual, but can be quite tricky to master. There's also a certain skill to knowing how far down you can fall without dying from it. Oh, and speaking of dying, basically everything in this game insta-kills you, making it really quite difficult at times. But also extremely rewarding when you clear a hard stage or boss battle. And then there's the puzzle aspect of the game, which gets more and more clever as the game progresses. In a way, I still today consider this to be the all-time king of puzzle games. Overall: 9 This game has not aged perfectly. But considering it's under the limitations of the original low-spec Game Boy, it still holds up really well today. Controls still feel pretty snappy, the game is still pretty long even by modern standards (as far as puzzle games go, anyway), and it's still a very rewarding and satisfying experience to play it. An excellent Game Boy title. If you've never tried it, do. |
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